Thursday, May 23, 2013

Will Write for Food author in Atlanta

Dianne Jacob’s Will Write for Food is a book that nearly
leapt into my hands. I tend to think of books coming into my life as a karmic,
or God thing, and that’s the way I feel about this book. It was in my Borders
store (RIP), and I remember pushing the baby in the stroller through the store
on the way to somewhere else, maybe the food court, maybe dropping off film at
Wolf Camera (RIP, too). Near the end of the cookbook shelf, a cover with
typewriter keys "WILL WRITE FOR FOOD" caught my eye. Not chocolate, not pie, not
fruit or vegetables, but typewriter keys. Hmmm, I checked on the baby and
decided I had a minute to peruse the book.

Will Write for Food, original cover

If my life had happened the way I wanted it to, I would write
for Southern Living. It didn’t happen, which is ok. It’s really ok. I live in
Georgia, not Alabama, and my family is here. But the stories about food and gardens had been spinning in my brain since forever and I needed a place to put them. And here was a book, in my hot little
hands, that said how to do it. "Will Write for Food," what a great title I
thought. $15 and a quick scan of my Borders Rewards card (sigh, I still
have it on my keychain) and it was mine.

Will Write for Food, revised edition

Since that day six years ago, I’ve read through the book and
cherished Dianne Jacob’s frank and fresh advice on crisp writing and editing specifically
for food stories. I follow her blog, also
called Will Write for Food, and taken to heart her writerly advice and business
savvy.

And now, I get to meet her.

Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write for Food

Dianne Jacob will be in Atlanta June 1 for a class at Cook’s Warehouse
at Ansley Mall. It’s a daylong class with
the top expert on food blogging and writing. Seats are
still available for the class and if there’s any part of you that ever thought,
“Hey, I could write for Southern Living” or “Saveur” or even write a cookbook,
then you need to be in this class. Hope to see you there!